Fringe
by Sericea
Summary: Maria Ross makes an overdue change.


It all started in the gym. Or, more accurately, in the locker room.

Riza noticed that Maria Ross had been casting subtle glances at her while they were changing. After that, Riza had started becoming more aware of the other women at work, but Riza hadn't noticed anything unusual at the office. She was unsure what to do. Maybe it was the influence of Mustang, but Riza had started to think there were worse things in the world than having an attractive woman watching her. It was rather flattering, in fact. On the other hand, having a subordinate ogling her, even outside of work, probably wasn't the most effective way of keeping good order.

A couple of weeks after her initial realization of the problem, she had opportunity to deal with it. Riza had taken her hair out of the ponytail she often wore while working out and was brushing it to remove the tangles. She felt a slight tingle run up her spine, and turned to meet the eyes of Maria, who had been staring intently. The blonde sighed inwardly and put her brush down. This had gone on too long.

"Is there a problem, Lieutenant Ross?" she asked coolly. Being ogled by another woman was just as insulting as the unwanted attentions of the opposite sex.

To her credit, Maria blushed profusely and dropped the bag of toiletries she had just removed from her locker. Riza eyed the other women as she scrambled to pick up the items that had scattered across the locker room floor

"I'm sorry. I... It's just..." The brunette swallowed and winced. "Your hair."

"My hair?" Riza asked in disbelief.

"I noticed it when you started coming to the gym and saw it down. It's just so pretty." Maria ran a hand through her own short, dark hair and smiled ruefully. "I've never had long hair and I'm not sure I'd want it. But my hair just seems so...practical. I always thought it was okay, because I'm a soldier and this hair works for me. But you're a soldier and your hair is so...pretty. And if you can have pretty hair, then maybe I could, too." Maria hesitated. "Besides, there's someone I...I'm interested in and that person is pretty oblivious to me. So, I thought that, maybe, if I changed my hair..."

Riza laid her brush down and sat on the bench, thinking for a moment. Maria Ross wanted new hair? She had a crush? Could said crush be Danny Broche? The two of them seemed to spend a lot of time together. That wasn't surprising, but someone asking Riza Hawkeye for beauty advice? That was new.

"You weren't in the War, were you, Lieutenant?" The brunette shook her head. "I didn't think so. I had short hair then, as a matter of practicality. After the War, I suppose I wanted to separate myself from the person that fought it, so I started growing it out. But I think that if I were to be back in the field on a regular basis, I'd cut it again."

"I don't want long hair. It's just..." Maria hesitated and plunged on. "It's just that a couple of weeks ago, someone came up behind me and said 'excuse me, sir.'" The other woman looked so crestfallen that Riza had to try hard not the laugh. "It's not funny! I'm sure no one has ever mistaken Lieutenant Colonel Hughes's wife for a man!" At the other woman's indignant expression, Riza lost control.

"It's probably because Gracia Hughes doesn't get her hair cut at the military barbershop," Riza explained, after she had stopped laughing.

"It's that obvious?" Maria questioned, digging through her bag for a mirror to study her close-cropped hair.

"A little," Riza answered soothingly. "But that can be fixed." Retrieving her purse from her locker, Riza pulled out a business card and handed it to the other woman. "This is the name of a salon where I get my hair cut. It's a little more expensive than the military shop, but at least you won't walk out with a high and tight."

Maria took the card dubiously and the two women finished changing without any further conversation.

Time passed, and it didn't take long for Riza to completely forget about their conversation. It was two weeks later, and Riza was doing the Colonel's neglected paperwork when she heard loud voices in the hallway.

"It's against regulations!"

"What are you talking about? The regs say that hair can't touch your collar. Show me one place where it touches my collar! And besides, you don't have any room to talk about hair being against regs."

"Okay, fine. But it's impractical! Look at the how the back is all...weird."

The voices were getting closer and Riza recognized them as belonging to Danny Broche and Maria Ross. Recalling their conversation earlier, Riza cringed, wondering if one of the more... progressive stylists had convinced the Second Lieutenant to do something drastic.

"It is NOT weird. And the only way anyone would notice a difference is if they spent hours staring at the back of my neck."

There was a long pause on this. "Well, it's not my fault that you always walk faster than me and make me follow you. See, you're doing it now!"

As the door swung open, Riza quickly focused her attention back on the paperwork. Maria strode in, followed by her partner. When Riza looked up to greet the two, she quickly took in Maria's hair.

It was still brown. Still short. Still practical. However, the style was more feminine and emphasized the fact the Maria Ross had very pretty features.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" The two saluted her and Riza nodded in acknowledgement, returning to her paperwork. She had enough trouble babysitting the staff members that were directly assigned to the Colonel's office. Now that she was satisfied that Maria hadn't dyed her hair orange or walked in with spikes, she had no desire to step in and try to police an argument between two friends.

Unfortunately, as with so many other things, what she desired had no impact on reality. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, tell her she has to change her hair."

"Why?"

"Look at the back. It's all... long."

Maria looked pointedly at Danny's hair as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her to allow Riza to see the highly controversial back of her hair.

Where Maria's hair was normally cut close and straight across the back of her head and touched up with clippers, the back was now slightly longer with an attractive fringe. While it certainly suited the other woman, Riza did feel a certain amount of disappointment. Maria's old haircut usually left a slightly paler strip of skin where the hair had blocked the sun that Riza, and apparently Danny, had found slightly erotic. But, all in all, it suited her.

"Give it a rest, Danny. She doesn't care. No one but you cares!"

Danny affected a hurt puppy expression that had apparently been learned from Fuery. "Fine. But what's next? Make-up? It's just not you."

At that, he stalked off, presumably to get more 'How (Not) to Date' advice from Havoc.

Maria turned to Riza. "Ma'am. I apologize for dragging you into this. Sergeant Broche can be rather excitable at times."

Riza smiled. "Don't worry about it. Men can be slow to adapt. Although, the back is a bit of a change, however attractive." Riza watched as the other woman processed what she said, then continued. "If you want to meet for drinks to discuss make-up tips, I'm free after work."

At that, Riza gathered up her papers and headed for Mustang's office, leaving a very shocked Maria Ross in her wake.


End file.
